1 By: Rozita Tavakolian

Introduction  Initiator: Markus Merz, 1999  The first attempt to design an entire automobiles using open source principles.  a great community of car developers and drivers  Their primary goal:  Design and develop a car over the internet  To answer people transportation needs  Standardization in parts manufacturing to use economies of scale.  A radical change from the car industry

Warning! ss hould not be confused with the OSCar company: KKnown as “RiverSimpe”, By Hugo Spowers ddevelop a platform that facilitates the development and commercialization of highly fuel efficient cars LLIFECar, a hydrogen fuel cell sports car HHyrban, a lightweight city car

Why OSCar Challenges of Market Before OSCar  Decreasing development cycles  Speed to market  the necessary for reevaluation of traditional methods of automobile manufacturing.  the needs of target markets  reinventing car designs worldwide continuously

Why OSCar (Cont.) Primary initiatives of industry:  Centralization of car development. Implement more integrative manufacturing processes like concurrent engineering.  Implementation of the computer aided design (CAD) methods

Why OSCar (Cont.) Primary initiatives of industry:  Increasing complexity and communication needed during development. coordination efforts between engineers, craftsmen and …. (Virtual / In-house) Problems: Chose vertical integration and a firm-centric focus Chose to rely on a small web of preferred suppliers, designers,..

7 Idea of OSCar project  Born during an Internet seminar in the autumn of  Wasn’t there a way to go a step further?  How could one use the World Wide Web to redefine the way autos were built and developed?  Appearance open source  The design process had become one of the most elaborate phases

Implementation  Provide the infrastructure for the OSCar project by Monocom’s operation  writing a manifesto (view)(view)  The first OSCar prototype should be developed within 36 monthswithin 36 months  Web site (  The communication medium for the developers  Forum, news server, e-whiteboard, …  translated into the English language

Implementation (Cont.)  DEFINING THE OSCar CAD PLATFORM  Allowed individuals to participate In the design process using tools they were acquainted with.  Was industry standard enabled delivery of the final OSCar product to one of the major car manufacturers.

Implementation (Cont.)  Initiating “OSCar Come Together”:  The OSCar should be a modular concept—different design versions;  should be easily interchangeable;  The OSCar should be a “world car” simple, cheap, reliable, easy to maintain and repair;

Implementation (Cont.)  It should also be a high-tech tool—fun, innovative, full of features you would not find in a commercially available car;  New, environmentally friendly engine types for example, fuel cell, hydrogen, or electricity.

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Developing Business Model Differentiation 1. Use of open source principals Using a concepts borrowed from computer manufacture 2. Definition of CAD platform

Developing Business Model  Contributed car designers from all over Germany  (e.g., Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Ford, and Opel, a subsidiary of GM).  Companies sponsored and supported the project,  a lot of publicity for Monocom OSCar had to prove its viability as a profitable business for the long run?!

Challenges  how capitalize on this?  Is there revenue of publishing & marketing of OSCar results  Could Monocom achieve for the car industry what Red Hat had accomplished in the computer world when it started to publish Linux?

Challenges (Cont.)  Would anyone want the design?  compelling enough with its modular design and fuel- efficiency  met the current needs of an automobile manufacturer.  conduct crash tests led to proposals for low-carbon alternative propulsion OScars

Developing Business Model (Cont.)  An expanded OSCar line  Partnerships and alliances  In early 2000, Ford Motor Company had formed a joint venture with the women’s community website iVillage (  any one of automobile manufacturers could subsidize part of the OSCar project.  form business partnerships with consulting firms, marketing, organizations, suppliers.

Sources of Revenue  Consulting and value-added customization services.  The largest potential revenue stream From servicing and consulting revenues. Pricing such services?

19 The Open Source Car Project

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21 Excerpts from the OSCar Manifesto